Get off the fence!

Did you know?

Not a single day that goes by in my life that someone asks me how is the New York City Residential market doing?

Of course there are 4 different paths we need to determine before I answer.

Are you:
A buyer
A seller
A renter
Or an investor

Once I know which one you are on, I can then give you my opinion of the market.

Let’s face it- the stock market has felt like the Cyclone Roller Coaster for the entire 3rd quarter of 2011.
Unemployment has been high for quite some time.
The US debt is a disaster.
No one gets along in the White house, and the debt issues in Greece, Spain and Italy are not going away.

But have no fear, I am an optimist and there is some strong data that continues to keep me bullish on the New York City Residential market.

1- mortgage rates have not been this low since 1952.
2- the average mortgage interest rate over the last 60 years is 8.92%. (We are now sub 4% in certain mortgage products)
3- there is only so much land on this island to build on and we are not going to build on Central Park or Riverside Park.
4- Only 39% of all housing in New York City is NOT Rentals.
5-inventories for apartments on the market for sale remain low.
6-our rate of unemployment is still below the national average.
7-wall street bonus money was $20.8B in 2010 and hopefully it will be somewhere near that level in 2011.
8-There is a direct correlation between office space demand and housing. If companies are looking for more square feet to work in, as many are, those new employees will need places to live.
(Ex. Jefferies, Google)
The overall vacancy rate for office spaces in NYC is just above 11%. It has been improving since topping out at 13.5% during the recent downturn, but is still slightly elevated from the historical average of 11% since 1991.
9-there has been a slight uptick in building permits.
10-Sales volume of apartments has picked up dramatically.

All these facts continue to keep me bullish in this market. Do not look at your home as an investment 1st, look at it as your home and over the long term, that home will be a pretty darn good investment.